NEW DELHI – A powerful Indian politician, known as the “Dalit Queen,” opened on Friday a huge memorial complex to herself and other low-caste icons as opponents slammed her extravagance. The grandiose memorial containing towering statues of heroes of those on the bottom rung of India’s ancient Hindu caste hierarchy was the latest opened by Mayawati, who calls the projects an inspirational “lighthouse” for the poor.
At the sunset ceremony, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state and one of the country’s most deprived, struck back at critics who accused her of self-glorification. “All the parties have got together to conspire against me and malign me and my party’s image,” the populist leader who styles herself as a saviour of the poor, told thousands of supporters at the televised ceremony. AFP
